Pulp Friction

Two decades ago, Coloradans and Texans exercised their interstate animosity by throwing tomatoes at each other during the Colorado Texas Tomato War in Twin Lakes. Now an epic tomato fight has returned to the state, but with a completely different flavor. Tomato Battle founders Max Kraner and Clint Nelson combined concepts from La Tomatina Festival in Spain and Oktoberfest in Germany to come up with a food fight complete with live music and beer that they could market to cities across the United States.

Last year, Colorado’s first Tomato Battle covered Copper Mountain with thousands of pounds of red pulp; today, it will do the same at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, 6000 Victoria Way in Commerce City. Based on suggestions posted on the Tomato Battle’s Facebook site, Kraner and Nelson decided to bring the fight closer to Denver and other urban areas to increase participation. The fun will kick off at noon with music and booze, followed by a costume contest at 3:30 p.m. before the battlefield opens at 4 for participants who’ve paid $50 for the opportunity to fight.

The ammunition — 50,000 pounds of overripe tomatoes — comes from a food bank in Arizona. Tomato Battle makes a donation to the food bank and ships them from there, Kraner explains: “Around the Denver area, we’d have to pay full price for tomatoes you can eat, and we don’t want to waste those.”

For information and tickets, go to http://tomatobattle.com/denver. You can also enlist at any Dick’s Sporting Goods locations to avoid online charges.
Sat., July 7, 12-5 p.m., 2012